Last Call For Cat

Sometime today in a long agenda list, the City's Cultural Heritage Commission will decide if Felix the Cat sign and Showroom is worthy of landmark status. If not, the neon sign and historic showroom will go unprotected, vunerable to the Shammas Group's University Gateway development.

The Shammas Group's is the same family business that owns both sign and showroom. The site is located across the street from the USC Galen Center and there are many who feel the corner would be better served if it was something other than a showroom.

The University Project is designed to be student housing and it's not clear if it's intended to be an affordable option to the current student housing monolith, Conquest, who have fought the development with the same ungovernable interest to those wanting to save the sign.

The Shammas Group and Shammas Automotive Group includes Felix Cadillac, Felix Chevrolet, Nissan of Downtown LA,
Porsche of Downtown LA, Audi of Downtown LA and Volkswagen of Downtown
LA. Clearly with that portfolio of print advertising dollars and future city tax base, there's been very little coverage of it –– and almost understandable.

Some say make it a landmark first, then move it if need be; otherwise it may be another Los Angeles artifact that disappears. Like the 1911 home that was demolished before it could be deemed a historical landmark. Or the parade that no one liked until it was gone.

Portions of some of the Save the Cat emails and letters that were sent to the office of Councilmember Jan Perry for today's (July 12) meeting are after the jump:

ADD JULY 13: Felix Gets Landmarked

I am writing as an architectural historian and founder of the successful preservation campaign to Save the 76 Ball, to express my hope that you will do all you can to preserve and protect the landmark Felix Chevrolet sign and its associated historic automotive showroom, and to name them an official Historic-Cultural Monument. This unique remnant of L.A.'s automotive marketing history is among the most beloved and significant signs in the city, and should be preserved for future generations to enjoy and learn from. Kim Cooper

• • •

As historic landmarks in city after city in this country are paved over to make room for luxury condos, Crate and Barrels and Starbucks, our unique identity is lost. Please take this opportunity to show your constituents that you are willing to take a stand and put people over profits.Virginia Pelley

• • •

More than anything, I feel that such landmarks are a central point of connection for the community. It was built just two years before I was born. I know there are many more probably still residing in this or a nearby community that still talk about the "Felix sign". I have lived in Orange County since the 70's and I STILL remember this sign! Please officially designate this as a Historic-Cultural Monument.Melanie Stevens

• • •

In Europe they take great pride and preserve their history. Southern California is slowly ruining the magic this great city is known for by knocking down landmarks and replacing them with hideous new developments with no character. As a resident of Los Angeles I strongly disapprove of the senseless destruction of a Vintage neon sign that makes peoples commutes a more pleasant experience simply by seeing the big cat in the sky. Giddle Partridge

• • •

The Felix the Cat sign is emblematic of Los Angeles's love of neon and is a significant, iconic structure among this city's amazing wealth of high quality creative, well-designed signs. No where in the country are there more neon signs of such high quality and design importance as here in Los Angeles. <snip> The city's LUMENS project, which relit rooftop signs on Wilshire, is a major accomplishment whose success is praised among neon enthusiasts across the country. The Felix the Cat neon sign is just as important as those in the LUMENS project if not more and deserves the city's absolute protection. Daphne Carr, Journalist, Author and Photographer

• • •

The destruction of the Felix Chevrolet showroom and its
neon sign would be another nail in that coffin of our city's
history. Slowly but surely our cultural past is disappearing. I do
hope that you will support the designation of the showroom and its sign and help
keep that past from eroding.Eleanor Schrader Schapa, Vice Chair, Design Review Commission, City of Beverly
Hills Adjunct Professor of Architectural History, UCLA Extension
Architectural and Interior Design Program Professor of Art and Architectural History, Santa Monica
College